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Young men,

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those of you that have trouble

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controlling your own lusts,

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how much time are you given to prayer?

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How much are you seriously 
praying about this matter?

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I mean real prayer.

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I mean praying like this is life or death,

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like your soul depends on it.

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Praying that is watchful,

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praying that is combined with fasting,

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praying that this is the top of the list,

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this is a priority,

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this thing's got to go.

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Praying that really believes

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there's enabling grace to be granted

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at the end of that prayer -

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because there is.

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Your sinless Savior shed drops of blood

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for you in earnest prayer.

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What are you doing?

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Don't delude yourself in thinking

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that it's harder for us today

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than it was in previous times.

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That's just not so.

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That is absolutely false.

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And it's arrogantly insulting.

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You tell that to Joseph

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who was continually rejecting

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the beautiful wife of his boss Potiphar

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who was daily trying to 
drag him into the bedroom.

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And every single time - not once -

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every single time resisting.

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Resisting, resisting. No, no.

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I'm honoring the Lord.

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I fear the Lord. He's worthy.

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I'm going to please Him.

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No. No. No.

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To his own hurt.

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To his own hurt he refused it.

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Joseph had golden opportunities

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and no one was going to know but God.

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And it was his fear of God

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and the value of God

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that he turned down 
every single opportunity.

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You tell that kind of talk

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to those Corinthian believers.

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Those Corinthian believers

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who were daily in the midst

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of a citywide brothel.

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That's where they lived basically.

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You talk about opportunity.

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You talk about tempting.

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And there they stood Paul says,

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"and such were some of you."

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They weren't that anymore.

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They were delivered right out of it.

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That was no longer the case. Why?

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Grace.

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No doubt they received that grace

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through prayer - the means of prayer.

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Oh Lord, lead us not into temptation,

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but deliver us from evil.

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You think they knew that verse?

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Oh, I'm sure they did.

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And God upheld them.

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And where there was such failure -

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we know there was in chapter 5, right?

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Where there was such failure,

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Paul didn't come alongside them and say:

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Well, you know, I know 
what kind of background

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you guys come from.

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It's expected that God's grace

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is not going to be 
enough to overcome that.

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Just try your best.

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God will understand...

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Not even close.

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Paul told them you get that young man

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out of the church.

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You get that leaven out.

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In fact, you know what 
Paul calls them there?

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1 Corinthians 5 - arrogant.

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You're arrogant

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and you should be mourning.

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Not ignoring or justifying sin.

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Cleanse that filth out he says.

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You think that young 
man in 1 Corinthians 5

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had a vibrant prayer life?

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Brethren, you know the answer to that.

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I can assure you this,

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the one wallowing in the mire of sin

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is not the one who's rolling 
up his spiritual sleeves

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and dedicating himself to steadfast prayer

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and being watchful in it.

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It just doesn't happen that 
way, brethren. It doesn't.

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Trying to justify your sin

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by claiming its accessibility -

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that it's greater today than ever before -

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you're no different than Eve

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who took the bait hook, line, and sinker

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and plunged us all into where we're at.

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You know what? You want 
that kind of reasoning?

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That's a two way street.

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It's a two way street.

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Never before in the history of the world

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has God's Word ever been so accessible.

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Oh, at the tip of my finger,

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at my keyboard - I've got it on software,

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I've got it on the Internet,

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I've got it on my phone, 
I've got it on an app.

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Who in here has multiple copies

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sitting in their home of the Bible?

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We've got the Word of God everywhere.

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Everywhere.

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You have no excuses.

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You do not want to bring 
that argument to God.

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Christian, you who profess 
faith in Jesus Christ,

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you have the distinct privilege

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of having spiritual truths in books galore

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and websites galore

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and apps galore.

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Within seconds you can search a word,

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a verse, any subject, commentaries,

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word study tools aplenty.

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Shame on us for not 
knowing our Bibles better.

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If anything - oh, if anything -

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this generation has all the more reason

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to be the holiest generation

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that's ever existed.

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Oh, what David would have done

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to have the Bible on app 
in the cave of Adullum.

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Can you imagine?

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David rested on the Word 
of God that was in here!

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He didn't even have this!

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Those saints didn't have the Bible -

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not accessible like we do.

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My, what promises would have

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warmed and encouraged the heart of Joseph

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as he sat there in Egypt enduring

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that crucible of trial

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when the Bible tells us the 
Word of God tested him.

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How much more rapidly

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would the early churches have matured

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and developed sound doctrine

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if Paul was able to email them, right?

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They have to wait for the 
transport of information

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or sending the messengers back and forth.

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If they had Internet connections, right?

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The church in Ephesus dot com.

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And they're talking to the brethren

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over there in Corinth and in Philippi,

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able to do word studies and commentaries.

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Oh brethren, we have no excuses.

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Let us not look for excuses.

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Let us look to where we're told to look:

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He who's seated at the 
right hand of the Father.

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That's our help.

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That's our means.

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That's where the grace 
comes to live this life

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and to overcome and conquer sin.

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Craig is one of the pastors

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at Grace Community Church
of San Antonio, Texas.

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This excerpt was taken 
from the full sermon:

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"Continue Steadfastly in Prayer"

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which can be heard on our 
church's YouTube channel:

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GCCSATX